Have you been out today?

I've been laying out some pages of Good Dog, Bad Dog 2 (debuting in The Phoenix this weekend, I believe) at about A5 size on an A4 sheet. I'd rather not show you the layouts themselves but this is what went on in the margins around page 26. A mix of workings out and distractions...



(Note for pen nerds: the blue pen I'm using there is a Tombow Dual Brushpen).

I don't think I've yet mentioned that I shall be attending the very lovely Hi-Ex comics expo in Inverness next weekend. I'll have copies of my own Good Dog, Bad Dog and A Boy and a Bear in a Boat on sale, as well as Nelson (to which I contributed four pages). I'll also be cheerleading for The Phoenix, sketching for anyone that asks, and appearing on a panel about British and Irish comics. This will be my third time there, and my first time sat behind a table on my own (two years back I was there with a posse of DFC alumni - Sarah McIntyre, Gary Northfield and gentleman Jim Medway - for company) so to stop me from feeling lonely do drop by and say hello.

And I'll have no excuses about it being a bit too far out of your way - I'm going there by train from Cambridge, so there!

Seawhite of Brighton A6 sketchbook number 12, begun April 23rd, 1998











Don't know what's going on with those chaps with giant heads on their backs. Too much cheese close to bedtime maybe.


Bigness of picture may be achieved in the usual fashion, if desired.

You probably thought you were safe from any more book-plugging from me for a while but I've just seen these kind words about A Boy and a Bear in a Boat and I'm not so modest that I don't want to share them.

Been enjoying drawing an old favourite character in the latest bit of Good Dog, Bad Dog 2 (starting its appearance in The Phoenix pretty soon). Here's a sneaky peek of a sketchy sketch in a sketchbook.







This time, she sings!

Seawhite of Brighton A6 sketchbook number 12, begun April 23rd, 1998












Bigness of picture may be achieved in the usual fashion, if desired.

Seawhite of Brighton A6 sketchbook number 12, begun April 23rd, 1998






That there on the right was done as a cover for the proper 7" vinyl single Fiery Fields by Mercedes (Stupidcat Records 1998). Attentive readers will recall that Stupidcat were Rachel and Andy from downstairs and that I drew their logo too (a stupid cat). A brief bit of Googling reminds me that the Mercedes tune was their first ever release, a split single with another band, Freeboy. I think the excellent Mr Mike Irwin provided artwork for their side of the sleeve. One long evening we all - Rachel, Andy, Mike, the excellent Mr Nik Tuliani (my other flatmate at that time) and I - sat in Stupidcat HQ (Rachel and Andy's front room) handcolouring the sleeves with felt tip pens. At time of writing there's an example on eBay, complete with rubberstamped company logo, here.

[UPDATE: It transpires that I did the cover for the Freeboy side too, as you can view here. The excellent Mr Mike Irwin, of course, did the cover for the later Stupidcat release These People by Spraydog. Ah, rock & roll.]






As noted above, I lost this sketchbook (outside a pub in Brighton - the big one on the corner up near the station, where they used to have the open mic nights on a Tuesday - Chris, what's it called?) but it reappeared, cosily clad in a jiffy bag, back in Cambridge the thick end of two months later. Whoever posted it back to me enclosed no note but whoever they were I thank them now for their kindness (and stamps).

Bigness of picture may be achieved in the usual fashion, if desired.